James
Karas
Théâtre
Français de Toronto has
staged an imaginative, well-acted and smartly
directed production of Moliere’s Dom Juan at the Berkeley Street Theatre
Upstairs.
The
play has some 19 characters and is episodic in structure as the arch-lecher in
history pursues women and runs in and out of scrapes. Director Joël Beddows has
judiciously reduced the number of characters to eleven with six actors playing
all the parts. Pierre Simpson as Dom Juan and Marcello Arroyo as Sganarelle are
the only actors who take one role each while the others handle the rest.
The
plot follows the general outline of the story, perhaps better known from
Mozart’s much later retelling in his opera Don Giovanni. Dom Juan is followed
by his colourful and cowardly sidekick Sganarelle and chased by his wife Donna
Elvira (Lina Blais who also plays Mathurine). He pursues the peasant girl
Charlotte (played by Sophie Goulet who also plays Madame Dimanche). He is
bawled out by his father Dom Luis (played by Nicolas van Burek who also plays
Pierrot) to no effect. Eventually he goes to dinner with the Statue of the
Commodor and gets his just reward.
Dom Juan
(Marc LeMyre) – Lina Blais, Pierre Simpson, Sophie Goulet
Simpson
as Dom Juan is a veritable chameleon, charming, ruthless, predatory, mendacious
and romantic who leads an amoral life focused on the seduction of women. The
sleek and slender Simpson gives a Dom Juan that is quite repulsive and
attractive at the same time for his success in selfishness and ability to go
through with his sins. Is he a Donald Trump with a better vocabulary and better
manners?
Arroyo
may well have the best role as Sganarelle. Moliere took this part when the play
was first performed in 1665. Sganarelle is the opposite of Don Juan. He grows
lyrical about the virtues of tobacco, moralizes about his employer’s life, and
is a coward and a great character for an actor. Arroyo takes advantage of all
of these traits and gives us a lively Sganarelle.
Lina
Blais plays Elvira, the woman who was abducted from the convent, married Dom
Juan and was abandoned by him. She is angry, vengeful, pleading and a classic
victim. Blais also plays the peasant girl Mathurine that Dom Juan tries to seduce
along with Charlotte, anther peasant. A fine performance.
Dom Juan
(Marc LeMyre) – Nicolas Van Burek, Marcelo Arroyo, Lina Blais, Pierre Simpson,
Sophie Goulet, Christian Laurin
Sophie
Goulet plays Charlotte as well as Madame Dimanche (Monsieur Dimanche in the
original play), the hounding bill collector. Again a well done performance.
Beddows
sets a brisk pace and seems to have made cuts in some of the lengthy speeches.
In the opening scene where Sganarelle praises tobacco and denigrates Dom Juan
to Elvira’s brother Guzman (Christian Laurin), Beddows
has the two men drunk and rolling on the floor and Guzman actually passes out.
A fine way to jazz up the scene. There are similar touches throughout.
The
only props on the stage are three transparent plastic cases. They are big
enough to hold a person and are easily moved around. There are dressing rooms
on each side of the stage where the actors change costumes in sight of the
audience.
The
costumes are modern, I suppose. The lower classes wear undershirts and pants,
the women wear wedding gowns, a suit and ordinary clothes. But we do see
ruffles on Dom Juan’s father Dom Luis (Nicolas van Burek).
Kudos
to the cast and especially to Beddows for a fine and well-paced production.
The
production is done in French with English surtitles. There is a lot of text to
be followed on a screen above the acting area and it is not always easy to do
it.
____
Dom Juan by Moliere opened on May 10 and
will play until May 28, 2017 at the Berkeley Street Theatre Upstairs, 26
Berkeley Street, Toronto, Ontario. www.theatrefrancais.com
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